Sometimes royal duties overlap with personal anniversaries and this is confirmed to be the case for King Charles this April. He’s often been praised as a hands-on grandfather but he sadly isn’t going to be there for Princess Charlotte’s birthday this year. The Prince and Princess of Wales’s only daughter turns 11 on Saturday 2nd May and it’s just been announced that King Charles’s upcoming State Visit will end on this date.
US President Donald Trump previously suggested on social media that the King and Queen would be there from 27th-30th April and we always knew that after America, the King would spend a few days visiting Bermuda. Now these exact dates for the trip have been officially posted on the Royal Family’s Instagram.
There’s no way to know if Princess Charlotte’s 11th birthday plans would have included celebrating with her grandparents. However, the Waleses are all about special family moments and it’s still a little sad that there’s no possibility of King Charles joining her.
Fitting in a longer birthday video call or phone call with Charlotte could also potentially be tricky on the day depending on what engagements are scheduled and what time His Majesty has to board his plane home. He will surely do his best, though, and given his role there are always going to be times where things like this happen.
King Charles’s coronation fell on his grandson Prince Archie’s fourth birthday and the State Visit will also be over Prince William and Kate’s 15th wedding anniversary. Even Charles and Camilla’s own 20th wedding anniversary fell during a State Visit to Italy.
When duty calls, the monarch has to answer and his family will be very aware and understanding of this. Charles especially dotes on his grandchildren and we saw an adorable interaction between him and Prince Louis over Easter when he playfully patted his grandson on either the cheek or shoulder (it’s hard to tell from pictures!).
In the past, former BBC Royal correspondent Jennie Bond has expressed her belief that His Majesty’s close relationship with the Queen Mother has inspired him.
"When you’ve had a wonderful experience in life, it’s natural to want to replicate it for your children and grandchildren," she told OK!. "Charles had a magical relationship with his grandmother, the Queen Mother."
Jennie thinks the King is "quite a soppy old thing really" and "hugely values the time he has available" to spend with his grandkids. Whilst he’ll still be away on Charlotte’s birthday this year, William and Kate will no doubt have plans to make it special for her.
The royals typically mark their birthdays privately and the Princess of Wales famously stays up til midnight with "ridiculous amounts of cake mix and icing" baking creations for her kids. But the Wales children also traditionally get a birthday post shared publicly on social media, usually featuring a new photo.
Last year’s snap of Princess Charlotte was taken by Kate and showed her sitting on a mountainside in Cumbria wearing a backpack and a leaf-print jacket.
